Goodbye-amino? Pontiac could kill G8 ST; become one-car brand
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Pontiac G8 ST
It's been a bad month for Pontiac fans. While begging for money from Congress, GM mentioned its intentions to sacrifice the brand to aid the General's recovery and get a few billion from the feds in the process. Now comes word that GM may keep the brand around, but cut its lineup in half... or more.
Automotive News spoke with Susan Docherty, vice president of Buick-Pontiac-GMC, who said that Pontiac's Aveo-based 2010 G3 will sticker for $15,000, but says it's a short-term product for the brand. Unfortunately, Docherty also hints the G8 Sport Truck's lifespan could be even shorter. "We would be foolish if we didn't take a second look at whether or not that is the right thing to do."
In a separate AN article, Docherty goes even further and suggests Pontiac's lineup could be pared down from six vehicles to a single nameplate. According to Docherty, "We are not going to spend tons of money on product development" for Pontiac and that the Pontiac Torrent will be dropped for 2009.
So what will Pontiac be selling? According to Docherty, the G8 is the most likely candidate for GM's performance brand, and that the ideal future for Pontiac would be "very focused, very specialty or niche."
Gallery: 2010 Pontiac G8 ST
Gallery: 2009 Pontiac G3
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Avinash machado 11:04AM (12/15/2008)
Actually a good idea. Let Pontiac be a niche brand focusing on RWD performance cars. The G8 fits the brand image. Perhaps they should sell the G8 Wagon too. Also maybe a Firebird or TransAm version of the new Camaro.
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Dondonel 11:37AM (12/15/2008)
Good idea, make Pontiac a RWD sports car brand only.
But don't kill Solstice, it only needs a decent interior to be competitive.
AdamVIP 11:41AM (12/15/2008)
I agree completely that a RWD brand could do nicely. The only RWD GM sells is caddillac. People want RWD that doesnt cost a fortune. The G8 is great. The solstice sells well in its segment. All they need is to make a RWD hatch and theyd have a solid lineup.
BrokenMonkey 11:41AM (12/15/2008)
Saturn has already become basically Vauxhall, so why not do the same with Pontiac, using it as a base to sell Holden cars in the U.S. They've already got several RWD performance cars, and the G8 is based off of the Commodore, so why not keep going with it?
Dave 11:49AM (12/15/2008)
The only reason GM would consider this idea is to save money. As long as they have one vehicle for the Pontiac dealers, there is no need to buy out those dealers. There is also no manufacturing (US) costs.
The General is not doing this out of love for the RWD set; they would rather sell high milage small(er) cars and make us think they are luxury cars.
After the dealers fail, GM can close up Pontiac with no blood on their hands.
BrianFL 12:06PM (12/15/2008)
Agreed with the perfomance brand only model. My idea for restructing for GM would be to move Cadillac, Hummer, Saab and Saturn Into one dealership, but change the name of Saturn to Opel. Let the new Opel become a high quality SMALL CAR ONLY for the brand. Put Chevy, Pontiac, and Buick in one dealership. Alot of the problems with pontiac is that the best models like the G8 people don't even know they exist. So putting them in the mainstream Chevy dealer makes sense. Customers might come in looking at a Chevy and drive out with a G8. Make GMC a commerical truck brand only. No more SUVs for GMC.
Then line up should be.
Chevy:
Aveo
Cruze
Volt
CHEVY vibe(change from pontiac)
HHR
Camaro
Malibu
Impala (New RWD strched zeta) Offer V8, desiel, and 2 mode Hybrid
Equinox
Traverse
Suburban. (truck Platform for heavy use)
Silverado
Avalance
New smal compact pickup. Possibly epsilon based with Saab AWD fited.
Buick:
New RWD flagship. Same as RWD impala. Offer V8, desiel, and 2 mode Hybrid
Lacross(epsilon Malibu based)
Enclave
Pontiac:
Solstisc
New small RWD compact 3 series fighter. 2 door and 4 door model (merge in with kappa)
G8 2 door and 4 models: Make the same engine options as camaro
Cadillac:
New small RWD 3 series sized(refer to new pontiac)
CTS
New RWD flagship model (based off new RWD buick and Impala)
Hummer:
Keep the same or sell brand
Maybe make smaller more affordable Jeep Competitors
Saab:
Keep the same
Opel:
Astras
Insignia
New small micro car.
Volt electric based copy
I beleive this streamlines alot of overlapping product.
Mike W 12:39PM (12/15/2008)
@ BrianFL: You forgot the Corvette in the Chevy lineup.
VOLVOIST 1:01PM (12/15/2008)
why not concentrate? why pontiac has to have a 'truck' is not clear, unless it was to be alike everybody else. who needs that?
I remember when it was rumoured that Bentley was going to build an 'SUV'! what a hoot!
Chase 2:08PM (12/15/2008)
I'll take my shot at a focused lineup:
Chevrolet, "Practical cars"
Aveo - economy car (T)
Cruze - compact car (Delta)
Malibu - full size car (Epsilon)
Colorado - light truck (Light Truck)
Silverado - medium truck (Medium Truck)
Equinox - small SUV (Light Truck)
Tahoe - large SUV (Medium Truck)
Express - van (Medium Truck)
Traverse - CUV (Lambda)
Volt - Halo green car (Delta)
Pontiac, "Performance edge"
G8 - Premium sport sedan (Sigma)
Camaro - Premium sports coupe (Sigma)
Solstice - Premium roadster (Kappa)
Corvette - Halo road-legal race car (Kappa, heavily modified)
Cadillac, "Max image"
CTS - Image sports sedan (Sigma)
CTC - Image sports coupe (Sigma)
CTS-V - Halo max performance sports coupe (Sigma)
Saab, "European style"
9-1 - Urban car (Delta)
9-3 - Euro sedan (Epsilon)
9-9 - Halo roadster (Kappa)
Buick, "Subdued luxury"
Lacross - luxury cruiser (Epsilon)
Enclave - luxury SUV (Lambda)
Saturn: nulled
GMC: nulled
Hummer: nulled
That lineup uses the following platforms: economy (T), compact (Delta), full-size (Epsilon), sports full-size (Sigma), purpose-sports (Kappa), CUV (Lambda), light truck, and medium truck.
The idea is that Chevy is the solid entry point brand -- chevy would be branded as the "practical" car -- focusing on economy and utility. From there, if people want to upgrade, they have unique premium options: performance, image, style, and luxury. Pontiac, Cadillac, Saab, and Buick would have premium prices to reflect this.
Taylor 7:04PM (12/15/2008)
@Chase
There is never going to be a Kappa 'vette. People keep wishing for one but it ain't gonna happen. I love my Sky and they are sick when they get the V8 swap (with a corvette engine, no less) but it just isn't what corvette owners want, it's too small. I'd love to see a super performance option for the Kappa though, but that's not a money maker. GM needs money makers. There's a reason they put the Kappa2 platform on hold.
-Taylor
Todd 11:05AM (12/15/2008)
There is absolutely zero reason to keep Pontiac at all. GM needs to be just Chevy and Cadillac ( ala Toyota and Lexus ).
Keeping Pontiac is proof that they'll never learn and the bailout is doomed to become an endless money pit for us tax payers.
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andy 11:21AM (12/15/2008)
agreed, but i think they should also keep GMC, it seems a lot of people still buy trucks for work. And yes, keeping Pontiac is stupid, although i think the G8 is a cool car, it won't sell enough to turn a profit. Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC is what i think the best scenario for GM would be.
MUSASHI66 11:25AM (12/15/2008)
Make the GMC an option packet for Silverado - they are same trucks anyway.
Brn 11:52AM (12/15/2008)
"GM needs to be just Chevy and Cadillac ( ala Toyota and Lexus )."
You mean Toyota, Lexus, Scion, and Hino.
Torrent 12:00PM (12/15/2008)
Then move somewhere else. Pontiac has potential. GM just needs to find it.
Jason 12:02PM (12/15/2008)
GMC trucks are the exact same as Chevy trucks other than trim an appearance. Most folks around here who buy GM trucks for "work" buy Chevys since they're cheaper than the same GMC branded truck. GMC is the upscale working man's truck. Anyone who thinks GMC is a "work" brand has been paying too much attention to those "Professional Grade" tv spots.
Mobius_1 12:03PM (12/15/2008)
And in a way, Subaru.
BoxerFanatic 12:10PM (12/15/2008)
Does nobody remember that GM makes Commercial trucks, like Chassis cabs, that are larger than consumer trucks? Serviced at diesel shops, and sold to commercial fleet operators? GM is not going to get rid of that business unit.
General Motors Commercial. That is what GMC is.
GMC badges got stuck to Chevy trucks and SUVs to allow Buick/Pontiac dealers to sell high-margin SUVs in the hey-days of SUVs.
I can see GM pulling the consumer line of GMC vehicles, but GMC is not going anywhere, and will still sell commercial product to fleets, and it would be costly, and pointless to re-brand all that to Chevy. There are other ways to spend that money making consumer products more competitive, rather than just changing logos on everything commercial, for no real reason.
Shipey 1:30PM (12/15/2008)
"There is absolutely zero reason to keep Pontiac at all. GM needs to be just Chevy and Cadillac ( ala Toyota and Lexus )."
Yeah it's worked for Toyota so well that they added those (ahem) great selling Scions and now possibly an upcoming hybrid-only brand as well.
ckm 2:36PM (12/15/2008)
@torrent:
Moving somewhere else wouldn't do anything. The US gov't taxes their citizen on their _worldwide_ income, regardless of where you live. BTDT.
This does have some advantages due to dual taxation treaties, but this is not the place for this sort of discussion.